Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Guess What? The Gulf Of Mexico is Still Alive

Here’s some news you may not have heard: One year after the worst oil spill in history, the Gulf of Mexico is nearly back to normal.

That’s right: Armageddon didn’t happen. Instead of terrible harm to the biosphere, the Deepwater Horizon spill has caused only mild problems. In fact, because of the fishing bans imposed after the spill, there are more fish than ever. Shark and mackerel populations have exploded. “Red snapper are unbelievable right now,” one fisherman said. “You could put a rock on the end a string and they’d bite it.”...

Wow, just stop the overfishing, and the fish come back? Whodda thunk? Maybe it would work here?

But all is not sweetness and light...

...This year, according to Kevin Anson, a biologist with the Alabama division of Marine Resources, the shrimp, crabs and fish appear to be developing normally. The only species really hurt was oysters. They were devastated, not by the oil, but by all the fresh water sent through the delta to keep the oil outside the marshes...

So, in fact, one of the most significant effects was actually caused by attempts to ameliorate the problem? Those unintended consequences keep popping up.

...In fact, most scientists believe the Gulf is in surprisingly good shape. When three dozen of them were asked to rate the current health of the Gulf’s ecosystem on a 1-to-100 scale, they gave it an average grade of 68 – not bad, considering that, before the spill, they gave it a 71. “People are having a hard time accepting it. Me, too,” says Ed Overton, a chemist at Louisiana State University. “There are things that are wrong. There is still oil out there. But it is not nearly as bad as I expected it would be a year later.”...